Degenerate art

Term used by the Nazis in Germany from the 1920s to refer to art that did not fall into line with the arts policies of National Socialism. It has been used in a polemical context to enhance the value of a specific aesthetic viewpoint. At the end of the 19th century the term was used in association with Nietzsche’s concept of decadence.

With the growth of German nationalism from the end of the 1920s, the term was increasingly present in the art propaganda of the National Socialist Party and applied to everything that did not conform to Nazi goals. It became the central concept of their art policy, being used in the battle against ‘foreign infiltration’ (Überfremdung) of art. By 1930 the Minister for Culture and Education, von Thüringen Frick, had already proclaimed his programme ‘Against Negro culture for German national traditions’, aimed particularly at the Expressionists, and he ordered the removal of 70 paintings from the permanent exhibition of the Schlossmuseum at Weimar. Also in 1930 Hildebrand Gurlitt, the museum director in Zwickau, was dismissed for promoting such artists as Emil Nolde, Heinrich Zille, Ernst Barlach, Otto Dix and others. In March 1933 Bettina Feistel-Rohmeder called for the removal from the museums of all works revealing ‘cosmopolitan and Bolshevik aspects’. The purpose of this propaganda was the bringing-in-to-line of the arts within a Nazi state. Art’s only task was to illustrate the ideas of National Socialism and the glorification of the State. Feistel-Rohmeder demanded the seizure of ‘degenerate works of art’. Museum directors were either forced out of office or relieved of their duties following the first defamatory exhibitions of 1933. In May 1938 Goebbels instigated the establishment of the Kommission zur Verwertung der Beschlagnahmten Werke Entarteter Kunst. Confiscated works were stored in depots and from there sold to interested parties abroad (the Nazis hoped for a source of revenue for foreign currency, which was needed for the rearmament programme), and sometimes exchanged (Hermann Goering made exchanges with older works of art for his private collection). In 1939, 125 works were put up for auction in Lucerne, including works by van Gogh, Gauguin, Franz Marc, Macke, Klee, Kokoschka and Lehmbruck. The end of the Aktion entartete Kunst was signalled by the burning of 4829 art works in the courtyard of the Berlin Fire Brigade.

Abstract Expressionism

Abstract Expressionism is a term applied to a movement in American painting that flourished in New York City after World War II, sometimes referred to as the New York School or, more narrowly, as action painting. The varied work produced by the Abstract Expressionists resists definition as a cohesive style, instead, these artists shared an interest in using abstraction to convey strong emotional or expressive content. These artists moved away from European traditions of painting to create a distinctly American kind of art, which both acknowledged and challenged the domination of early 20th century giants such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Vasily Kandinsky. Abstract Expressionism is best known for large-scale paintings that break away from traditional processes, often taking the canvas off of the easel and using unconventional materials such as house paint. While Abstract Expressionism is often considered for its advancements in painting, its ideas had deep resonance in many media, including drawing and sculpture.

Arshile Gorky:
(1904-1948)

Jackson Pollock:
(1912-1956)

Williem De Kooning:
(1904-1997)

Robbert Motherwell:
(1915-1991)

Franz Kline:
(1910-1962)

Mark Rothko:
(1903-1970)

Hans Hothman:
(1880-1966)

Bernett Newman:
(1905-1970)

Clyfford still:
(1904-1980)